From this date on, the connected film programme runs at the Bioscope and artistic performances by Serge Alain Nitegeka, Doung Anwar Jahangeer, Donna Kukama and several others will take place on Saturdays and Sundays. On Sunday, 6 May (11:00 for 11:30) the public is invited to join the Alexandra Field Band as it leads a parade from the Shoe Shop to the Drill Hall via Joubert Park. The brass band will join kwaito performers on stage, with official launch of Shoe Shop celebrated with food, drink and great music.

Shoe Shop celebrates movement. The project explores individual narratives and personal stories that reflect upon the complexities of a roving life – at times touching on larger migratory movements, negotiated space, courageous walking, but also a joy in discovering new places and the simple act of walking. Rather than the usual question, ‘where do you come from?’, can we imagine a future and ask, ‘where are you going?’

In Johannesburg, public space is particularly inscribed – both socially and historically. Within this context, free passage or ease of movement often seem naïve notions. Shoe Shop was borne of an interest in narratives of migration – that is, of people moving. South African people have many stories to tell when it comes to migration, different and similar stories to Malian, Kenyan, German women, children and men. Shoe Shop attempts to make space to talk about individuals moving through different territories – remembering, telling stories, negotiating space, imagining futures, perhaps simply enjoying the physical act of walking.

The Shoe Shop festival includes photographic installations in public space, the opening of a month-long Shoe Shop project space on 6 de Beer Street, a photography workshop, a parade, a series of lectures/short presentations, artist walks and performances, a film programme and film workshop. A publication will accompany the festival.

Art in Public Space: 20 April to 31 May

The exhibition of photographers’ work in Johannesburg comments on a search for public space: side-walks, shop fronts, outside walls and bus shelters all have many meanings and various levels of access for different groups. From Naledi to Braamfontein to Hillbrow to Parktown to Maboneng distinct individual stories unfold. Large and small works by artists Jodi Bieber, Thabiso Sekgala, Musa Nxumalo, Guy Woueté, Sokona Diabaté, Amadou Sow and Emmanuel Bakary Daou are installed, but posters and glue are also available to visitors to the Shoe Shop project space to continue parts of the exhibition elsewhere.

Shoe Shop Project Space: 2 to 31 May (opening on 2 May at 16:00)

The shop will feature various suggestions of what might be carried on a walk, looking at the possible exchange of goods and necessities. Mapping work by Rangoato Hlasane/Keleketla! Library, as well as foot wear, accessories, maps and zines by (among others) Lisa Jaffe/Guillotine, Zen Marie, Ravi Govender, Jamal Nxedlana, Zamani Xolo and Francis Burger and Jonah Sack of the Independent Publishing Project.

Photographs printed as posters will be available to the public, and will act as extension of the public space installation in Johannesburg. Work by George Osodi, Fatoumata Diabaté, Emmanuel Bakary Daou and Thabiso Sekgala will be available in this way.

Functioning also as a working and talking space, there will be presentations, screenings and talks each Friday for the month of May. This programme will include a presentation by Rangoato Hlasane about Johannesburg-situated, post-apartheid novels. Penny Siopis shows the film My Lovely Day and other works. Tegan Bristow will speak about mapping projects in terms of website design. Other invited speakers include Stacy Hardy and Zen Marie.

The shop will include a work station for visiting photographers, as well as a space to access the website – visitors will be able to blog or add images and update events to the map. Film on demand will make it possible to view movies and shorts showing at Bioscope, as well as other works of interest not included in the programme.

Performances and walks: 5 to 27 May

Serge Alain Nitegeka will realise a new performance work for Shoe Shop. Architect and artist Doung Anwar Jahangeer is doing a city walk, while Keleketla! Library considers Kalawa Jazmee and the rise of kwaito in Hillbrow in the mid-nineties and several other walks on Saturdays and Sundays.

The Shoe Shop book:

The Shoe Shop book is published by Fanele/Jacana Media and includes contributions by Kemang Wa Lehulere, Penny Siopis, WJT Mitchell, Sissy Helff, Gael Reagon, Thenjiwe Nkosi, George Osodi, Jean-Bernard Ouédraogo, Andries Walter Oliphant, Ismail Farouk and others. It aims to create a critical and thoughtful space to consider various film, photography and literature texts related to migration on the African continent. The book also serves as a bridge between the previous iteration of Migration and Media in Bamako, Mali, and the South African-based Shoe Shop.

Film programme: Gata le Nna - Walk with Me - 3 to 30 May at the Bioscope

The film programme will run on Thursdays at 19:30 and Sundays at 15:00 and 17:00 at the Bioscope for the month of May. The programme will focus on African films that deal with migratory tracts - particularly focusing on the cinematic caption of walking. A matinee children’s programme runs on Wednesday 2, 16, 23 and 30 May and involves learners from surrounding schools.

This project is realised as part of the New Imaginaries programme developed by the Goethe-Institut Johannesburg, and is curated by Marie-Hélène Gutberlet and Cara Snyman.